Ryanair confirms it has been hit by global IT outage

The airline has warned of disruption 'across the network'

On Friday, major airlines, banks and media outlets across the world were hit by a major IT outage.

As a result of the outage, major US airlines American Airlines, United and Delta have all issued a global ground stop on all their flights.

Now, European airline Ryanair has confirmed it has also been hit by the outage, and has warned anyone flying with them today to arrive at least three hours before their departure time.

In a post on X, Ryanair said: "We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control. We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time.

"If you're due to travel today and have not already checked-in for your flight, you can do so at the airport. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of this Global 3rd party IT outage."

Elsewhere, the BBC reports that the departure boards at Edinburgh airport have frozen, whilst TV channels Sky News and CBBC have both gone off air due to the outages.

In a post on X, Sky’s executive chairman David Rhodes said: “Sky News have not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologise for the interruption. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services.”

Meanwhile, train services in the UK have warned passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues.”

In a post on National Rail’s website, it warned of a “network wide IT issue affecting a number of train operators services this morning”.

Avanti West Coast, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, London Northwestern, Lumo, Northern, Southern, Thameslink, TransPennine and West Midlands have all been impacted. 

National Rail said: "There are currently widespread IT issues across the entire network,” . “IT teams are investigating to determine the root cause of the problem.

"As a result, some train operators are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice train cancellations.

"Additional, other key systems including real-time customer information platforms, are also affected."

Microsoft has said it is taking “mitigation actions” after being hit by issues, according to AFP.

The company says it is investigating issues with its cloud services, and that several of its apps and services have been hit by an issue.

Australian authorities believe the outage is linked to the cyber security firm CrowdStrike and is not the result of a cyber attack, ABC News reports.

Airports, shops, and communications have been affected in the country, with Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator describing it as a "large-scale technical outage."